August 2011

Hello! I’m in Chicago on stop #2 of my Decorate US Book Tour and tonight I’ll be doing a workshop and hanging out with the locals at Anthropologie on 111 E. Chicago Ave. (across from Marshall Field’s). See below for your invitation – if you can RSVP please do, but if not, the event is open to the public so you can get in with no problem! The mood board event at 6:30 is full but you can arrive after that to hang out with all of us, get your book signed and enjoy a fun, creative night together at Anthropologie.

See you tonight Chicago! I also can’t wait to introduce you to my very special guest – you’ll love her I’m sure!

(image: anthropologie)

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I was sent some lovely images from Rice in Denmark recently and I thought I’d post them quickly because the bright hues don’t feel like the typical Autumn colors to me at all and this is indeed their Fall collection. These vivid hues leap from the images! You can view their entire catalog online here.

How’s that for a Fall collection!?

(images: rice)

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Hello everyone! As promised, I want to keep you in the loop as I’m on my book tour in the U.S. to let you know where I’ve been, where I’m going and how each city has received me – so far, so good! One city behind and 5 more to go! Tonight is my event in Chicago at Anthropologie and then I’m off to San Francisco first thing in the morning. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind but I am not jet lagged, feel great, and am enjoying each moment of it because the last thing I want to do is return home and have it all be a bit of a blur. So I guess you can say that as much as I possibly can at least, I’m savoring the moments.

Boston was a joy. I was careful to not invite all of my friends because I thought it was better to get together with them separately, but I did invite 10 or so of my closest and it was so nice to see them again after being away for two years. I also was able to see lots of my Blogging Your Way students – I really loved putting a face to their names. I was able to meet so many people who, up until now, I’d only “known” online and so I think it will help to strengthen these already good friendships now that we’ve seen one another and know we are the real deal.

When I arrived to Anthropologie on Saturday morning, I was greeted by an enthusiastic staff who were all so happy to see me. This instantly put me at ease. My good friend, Boston designer and Decorate contributor, Fernanda Bourlet, was there to greet me as well as she was my special guest for the event. She was going to speak for 5 minutes about mood boards but in the end we ran out of time but I want to thank her for being there with me – the support meant a lot. Fernanda is a very talented and special lady!

After arriving, I was lead upstairs to the area where I’d be doing a mood board demo and they set everything up so beautifully I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was like going to a wedding with a buffet of baked goods, mimosas, bottled waters hand decorated with fabrics and a huge bookcase that they decorated with my book and fabrics, swatches, everything I had asked for and much, much more. There was even a huge mood board for me to work on and above it, tissue paper pom poms hanging from the ceiling.

My signing table was on the 1st floor, they wanted me to be more centrally located for that part of my event which was a great idea. The table was gorgeous and completely set up with pens, flowers in an “H” mug, stacks of Decorate, a big poster and more of the tissue paper pom poms suspended overhead that were also upstairs. No detail was overlooked. Even the “rope” used to corral people into line was handmade with fabrics. It was all so impressive.

Above: Flowers to sent to wish me well on my book event – so sweet – from Rag & Bone Bindery in Providence. VERY nice gesture.

Aside from having a book signing in Anthropologie (a dream come true), I was able to meet so many readers of decor8 and now, Decorate, and I made sure to spend a little time with each person because the last thing I wanted was for someone to stand in line and then be brushed off. I was very happy when people thought to give me their business cards because it helps me later on when I want to keep in touch. I also brought my signing book so while everyone was standing in line, they could sign my guest book while I was signing at the table. When I went home that day, I read each entry and it made me smile to know them all now in a much more personal way.

After my 30 minute presentation, I was going to take a 30 minute break but when I walked downstairs and saw a huge line I knew it was time to meet and greet everyone so I took my seat and started signing. I signed books non-stop from 11:30-1:15 and the event was supposed to end at 12:30! THANK YOU BOSTON! That was an amazing kick off event for me and I’ll never, ever forget it. I also have to thank Chronicle Books for getting me over here in the first place and sponsoring this tour along with the generosity of Anthropologie and their creative ideas – I am still blown away by how much thought they put into the event.

For everyone I met – I’m honored that you took the time to come out to meet me on a beautiful Saturday morning when you could have been at the beach! Thank you for taking time to see me and I’m so happy I was able to sign your book. I also want to thank everyone who wanted a photo with me – this may sound funny but it is also a real moment for me when someone asks that. :) Thank you for making this blogger feel like a superstar, it’s a nice feeling sometimes – we all need a little love and encouragement.

Ladies who took me out to lunch after the Anthropologie event. I’ll post all of their names next week so you can meet them, too! Photo by: Monica Lee.

Embarking on this book tour alone was one of the scariest things I’d ever done. Flying to the states unsure of what would happen at the first event was a challenge for me on all levels but I’m glad I just went for it – my determination to meet as many of you in person as possible paid off and I’ll go home next week with the satisfaction of knowing so many more of you than before on a much more personal level.

THANK YOU BOSTON!!!!

(images linked to their sources below, if unlinked, I took them.)

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Hello everyone! I’m preparing for my flight to Chicago today but wanted to pop in quickly to thank everyone for attending the Boston Decorate Workshop + Signing at Anthropologie on Saturday. It was GREAT!!! I couldn’t believe how many showed up and all of the beautiful faces in the crowd — so friendly, so encouraging and very enthusiastic about the book which was such a delight. I signed books for 2.5 hours straight without a break – I couldn’t pause for a moment – I felt so energized by everyone’s warm welcome. I will post highlights from the Boston event once I get to Chicago and settle into my hotel, but for now, I’ll leave you with this photo of some books on display in store…

My next event is in Chicago tomorrow evening (details below) and I would love to meet you! Here are the details. If you can RSVP please do, but if not, this is open to the public so it’s also okay to just stop by and say hello to me and have your book signed – Anthropologie still has them in stock but they are sold out elsewhere and currently being reprinted for the third time. YAY!

I wish you a lovely day – I’ll be back later on with Boston highlights and more!

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Hello everyone! I’ve landed in Boston and though I’m totally jet lagged I’m up preparing for the Decorate event at Anthropologie this morning and very excited to meet all of you who are coming out. I am so glad to be back and really look forward to it and to introduce you to my talented and lovely special guest. For those of you who couldn’t get a seat to the 10:30 a.m. mood board presentation (it will last for 30 minutes), you are invited to join us immediately following (try to get there by 11:30 since I leave at 12:30) to meet me and have your book signed. That portion of the event is open to the public so stop by!

See you soon at Anthropologie on Boylston Street everyone! Yay yay yay! See the above invitation for details.

Next Stop after Boston: Chicago on Tuesday, August 23rd. (image: Anthropologie)

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Hello everyone! I’m flying to Boston in the morning to begin my US Book Tour for Decorate thanks to Chronicle Books and Anthropologie and I’m very excited and the butterflies I feel are almost as wild inside of me as before my wedding. Funny to say that, but it’s true. I’ll be blogging from the road as much as possible to share all of my impressions as I go from Boston to Chicago, then I meet Leslie Shewring and we are together in San Francisco and Los Angeles, then I’m alone again and fly to Philadelphia and finally I’ll be in New York City! I return back to Germany on September 1st and my heart is pounding in my chest – I’m so excited!

I will be on a plane every few days but fortunately I can stay in close touch with all of you via decor8 and with my husband and friends via Skype – he is staying home in Germany while I’m on tour but he’s really looking forward to all of my updates and told me last night how proud of me that he is and that I’ve done so much with my life and now a book tour… which is something I needed to hear because if our family isn’t proud of us then it’s hard to go forth with a good feeling don’t you think? It made me cry when he told me how he felt from his heart — and the timing was perfect because I’ve been riding a wave of emotions all week. But now I have a very excited feeling because he can’t wait to see how it goes and because my mother called and she is coming to my event in Boston and my friends are going to be there too – so with Boston as my first stop, I think I should feel comfortable and do just fine. Chronicle was clever to send me there first, it’s like they knew it would be a great city for me to kick things off in. I feel like Boston will give me a very nice welcome and I really need it because this is fun but I can’t deny how anxious I feel!

I haven’t flown on a long haul flight alone in over ten years so I’m wondering how I’ll do. I have lots of reading that I want to catch up on and my trusty iPhone apps to keep me occupied so whoever I sit near I apologize in advance for my Angry Birds obsession. I’m sure the time will go by quickly. If I have time tomorrow when I’m in Boston I’ll blog before the weekend to say hello to you again. :) Like I said, I am not disappearing for two weeks on decor8… I’m going to share everything as I go so you can be a part of it as much as possible, I know many of you don’t live even close to the cities that I’ll be in so for you, I’ll be sure to take photos and capture as much as I can. I also plan to collect as many business cards as possible so I can share those whom I’m meeting along the way with all of you so you can feel like you are meeting new people, too. I’ll also be blogging about products and interesting things that I see along the way, and I have some posts that are totally unrelated to my trip that I’ll also be sharing so you’ll have a full two weeks on decor8.

So! Let the official book tour begin… As my knees shake like it’s the first day of school all I can say is that I can’t wait to meet those of you who are coming out to my events — I’m bringing my camera so don’t be surprised if you end up on my blog, ha ha! :) You’ve been warned… :) I have to finish packing and then off to bed I go. Tomorrow is a big day!

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About

I’m Holly Becker, and I work as a journalist, author and interior stylist with a 4th book soon to release this September. On decor8, I share decorating ideas, trends and beautiful objects and places - those extra special finds, often made by hand, things that tell a story. I'm lucky enough to travel frequently so I record my many adventures here, too. Together with my small team, we present daily content to enlighten and inspire. Welcome and happy decor8ing!

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